Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Blinder [PDM]]

Nice!

Wow, you definitely deserved that top 5 and front page. This song sounds great, and it's actually pretty original and creative too, and that's hard to achieve in genres like this. I mean, guitars, synths and rock drums altogether? Wow, that surely is a creative mix. Great job, this sounds awesome!

The melodies at first were a bit bland and boring, but at 1:57 you created the type of melody which you hear once, you never forget it and it gets stuck in your head. There's also a fantastic amount of alternate melodies over here, and they all sound excellent. Guitar's melodies were also great, and the guitar had a cool rhythm. 2:31 was a cool part too. Maybe somewhere in the song you could add some epic guitar solo or a synth solo somewhere, since this song sounds really interesting with the mix of guitar and synths, so by adding some solos for each, namely the guitar, I think it'd be doing wonders to this song. There were some cool glitch aspects to this song, which I quite enjoyed, and they furthermore made this song so creative and interesting.

As for the instruments, as I said above, there was an interesting mix of different instruments. I liked the synth at 1:35 - it sort of stood out from the rest giving that part a unique theme to it. Guitar sounded excellent, and I liked the synth which carries the main melody that first plays at 1:57. The synths and sounds at the beginning were superb. Practically all of the instruments sounded great, and the background synths were pretty cool too. There were loads of different sounds in this song, which I quite liked. As for the effects, they were awesome, and there were many different sound effects throughout the song which made some really good transitions, such as at 3:57. Maybe the additions of some well-timed robotic-like vocal sample in a few transitions would be a cool addition, but that isn't much of a problem.

Well, when it comes to the transitions, I'm not really too sure. I noticed some rough transitions here and there, which made the song jump around from one melody to another almost randomly, as B1ackStar92 pointed out. A better progression with smoother transitions would definitely bring this piece to its full potential. Some examples of rough transitions would be at 0:21, 1:14, 2:18, 3:35 and 4:41, mostly because the song changes rhythm/style too abruptly or a new instrument is introduced sort of out of nowhere. Still, some transitions were pretty epic, such as the one at 3:57, and you had some cool drum rolls and stuff to transit from one melody to another.

The structure of this song is pretty weird. For over 1/4 of the song, you don't introduce the chorus, then you finally do, then you play some counter melodies, after that you play the chorus yet again, you play one small alternate melody, and then you keep repeating the chours till the end, which was weird, and may hint to the fact that at times this song is random.

The variety on the whole was good, but as I said, towards the end, the chorus started getting repeated quite a bit, and it was a bit monotonous. The intro was awesome, although it had little to do with the rest of the song, but unfortunately, the ending was weird. That sound that came at 4:41 sort of came out of nowhere because of the rough transition, and it provided a pretty weird ending. Why don't you remove the sound from 4:41 onwards, and end the song with a final ending note or something. IMO it would be a better ending :).

Not much to say about the drums. They were excellently varied, and although the samples weren't the best around, they fit with the song flawlessly, and there were some cool beats, plus they were just the right volume too. Good job ^^.

This is a really cool submission, with catchy melodies and an interesting mix of genres. Just work on some of the nitpicks I mentioned above. Sorry for not giving you a 10, but I figured you'd prefer an honest and helpful review with a 9 more than a simple 10/10 and praise. Keep up the great work, and thanks for reviewing my song Spacewalk!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

[-Orr- 4 Brave Champions []

Holy Shrimp.

Now this is what I call Epic Classical. Wow, it just sounds so amazing. You've done a fantastic job in this song, and it sounds so fun to listen to! It's also a huge addition to the original, and I'm glad I found out you made an updated version of it...

Melodies are out of this world. The choirs at the beginning were epic and their melody was great, and then the strings that came at around 0:18, although they sound a lot like Lord of the Rings for some reason, have the most amazing melody I've heard in a big while. 0:56 just added to the amazing tension and power of this excellent song, and had a really cool buildup. 1:21 was a nice addition, since epic classical songs like this always could use slow ambient parts with the flute such as 1:21.

I also really liked the background depth in this: the double bass fit well in the song, and those choirs in the background gave a boss battle-feel to the song. 2:12 was really cool, and sounded pretty medieval too. 2:44 was really majestic-like too. Towards the end, the song picked up again, and it was awesome. I think the only part I didn't like in this amazing song would be 1:47, which sounded almost comical and was a bit too upbeat and happy. It sort of ruined the mood IMO. I don't think you should remove it, but changing it a little might make it match with the majestic and powerful theme of the song.

As for the instruments, you can't expect less from East/West, lol :P. The instrument choice was very good. The bells sounded great in this song (except at 1:47 when they sounded happy and upbeat :\), and the strings were brilliantly executed. The orchestral hits all sounded fantastic. Probably thing I enjoyed the most in this would be those choirs. They were awesome in the foreground at the beginning, and they gave a lot of background depth to the rest of the song. It's also cool that you made them say different things other than Ahh, or Ooh (I suppose you're using Word-Builder). The choice of instruments was perfect; I definitely can't complain about it.

As for the transitions, they too were flawless. Every melody had a great transition to the next, and the song flowed smoothly with melodies complimenting each other really well. New instruments were also introduced very well, and all of the buildups were flawlessly executed. Man, do you ever do anything wrong??

When it comes to the structure, it's awesome. I seriously find it impossible to build a good structure in my classical songs, so I'm amazed by the way you managed to get the melodies to match each other so perfectly and to leave the song at perfect variety - not enough for it to get random, but not to make it get repetitive either...

IMO, the intro wasn't anything too special. Maybe a gradual buildup instead of a note along with some bells would be better. Or maybe an epic ambient choir intro - I find that making choir intros is really fun if you know how to do them, and they're always a perfect way to start any song IMO (which is why I used it in 4 of my recent songs :P). On the other hand, the ending was perfect (yeah, I say perfect a lot X[ ). It was an epic way to end an epic song, and I can't complain about it ^^.

The orchestral percussion was superb. The only issue I'm having with them is that maybe your snares were a little weak/quiet at times, but other than that, your drum work was very good. The drum transitions were nice, and the drums sounded really epic along with the song. They were also just the right volume other than the snare, and they sounded really good (are those drums from Stormdrum or East/West?).

Overall, this submission is a very good improvement from the original. All I'm complaining about is the slightly upbeat and comical part at 1:47, the uninteresting intro and the snare being a slight bit too weak at times, but as you can see those are simply nitpicks. I'm fav-ing this song and you as an artist. You definitely deserve it! Keep up the amazing work, I can't wait to hear your other submissions! XD
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.
Fav'd as an artist.

-Review Request Club-

DavidOrr responds:

What a wonderful review! A beautiful analysis, I'm glad the piece can hold up to such a in-depth review. The East West sounds definitely played in my favor for this piece, although they do have some genres they don't fare as well at. The slightly upbeat part you mentioned was supposed to represent the whimsical personalities of each knight (there are four call and responses). I was reluctant at first to include something that bouncy, but I think it fits well with the overall atmosphere of the game.

Thanks so much for this review, If I could fave it I would!

[Finical [Minimal Mix] ADM-R2]

Nice job!

Lol, too bad Skela cowered out lol (xP). I'll review this with a huge review so you won't feel as if you worked for the Death Match all for nothing. Anyway, onto the review.

The melodies... Well, the first part of the song was House, and there wasn't much of a melody, but when the ambient part came in at 1:21, it was just beautiful. I really liked the notes you used, they instantly put you at ease, and I couldn't help but get the goosebumps when I heard its awesomness :P. From then on, the melodies were pretty simplistic. Maybe you could've added some more melodies in the parts that felt a little empty or slightly monotonous, such as towards the end when the drums only were playing. What I liked though was your interesting use of different genres. It gave the song a nice 'unpredictable' twist to it, which made it more fun to listen to. The ambient parts would probably be my favourite parts of this though.

There weren't many instruments, but they all sounded great. The ambient pads were awesome, the acid bass at the beginning sounded nice and the square synth fit well. What I really liked was your amazing use of sound effects, such as the sweeps at 0:58, 2:12, 3:19 and the end (I just think that some of the sweeps could use some more delay or reverb, they sort of cut out abruptly if you get what I mean), plus there were loads of other cool effects too such as the ones at the beginning, and the effect at 2:47-ish, which kept me listening to the song without getting bored. I'd suggest adding a few extra instruments, such as some high bells or something, which I think would fit really well at 1:50. What would be cool is if you tried to combine all of the genres together towards the end, so you'd be playing the bass you used at the beginning, the ambient pads and the square synth along with drums and FX somewhere at the end. Sort of a grand finale.

The transitions are all great. It isn't easy to transit from one genre to another in one song (I should know, I made a song with five different genres XD) but you executed all of the transitions perfectly, especially with your creative use of the different FX. I liked the transition to Ambient at 1:13. New instruments were all introduced well, and the buildups are all really nice. I liked the drum buildup at the beginning, and the way the ambient pads built up was great too. Towards the end, the drums were built down really well too. Great job with all of the transitions and stuff :).

The structure is weird, but that's sort of expected in a song that incorporates more than one genre. As for the variety, I can't complain much about it. Maybe at 2:20 you could vary that square synth a little more, since those eight monotonous notes did get a bit repetitive during that part. Still, in general the variety was brilliant.

As for the intro, it was rather generic, IMO, but still not much of a problem. The buildup in the intro was fantastic. As for the ending, it was OK, but it could've been better if you tried to end it with that grand finale that I was talking about before. Still, not a bad outro :).

As for the drums, there were some very good drum transitions/drum rolls, and some great variety of drums, plus the beats were great, and the drums fit perfectly with the song. I liked the sound of the kick - it wasn't too hard but not too weak either. Maybe at times your clap could have had more reverb, since it felt a bit abrupt and short. Other than that, awesome drum work :D.

There aren't really that many flaws in this awesome song. It has a sort of uniqueness to it, since it's such a nice mixture of different genres. I really liked your drums, your effects, your transitions and your amazing ambient parts. The only problems you had were really tiny ones, like slightly short and dry claps, lack of reverb on some of the sweeps, slightly generic intro, slightly uninteresting outro and a few parts in the song which could use a few more melodies/instruments. Whatever, keep up the excellent work, and good luck in Round 3 of the DeathMatch!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

djInTheDark responds:

Thank a lot dude. I mean, I know its your job as a judge, but I still really appreciate it. Also cuz you added to it and made it official. And believe me, I don't think I did it for nothing. I make music because I love to, whether or not I have an opponent is up to chance. ;)

Thanx again, looking forward to another round!

[Once More - F-777]

As usual, great!

As always, you never ceize to impress. This is a really good song, which surely deserved the Top 5 that it got. Still, just because I feel nitpicky and fussy, instead of the usual 10 I give you, here, have a 9 :P. That doesn't mean this is a bad song - it simply means it's not your best ;).

The melodies are what I probably liked the least in this song. As usual, the melodies were fantastic, but what I didn't enjoy was that chord progression you used. It's the usual dance progression and the instant I hear it in 80% of all the Dance songs on NG, I sigh and say "Oh, not another one :(...". There are loads of other nice sounding chord progressions, but using that same C, Ab, Eb, Bb chord progression makes the melodies lack creativity, IMO, and after someone hears a good number of your songs, they'd know that you're full of creativity, so it's a bit of a shame using that chord progression. Still, the melodies that you have ave right now are still great - if you just tried out a different chord progression then it'd be great :D. Also, the chord progression barely changed throughout the song, so more chord progression variety is needed.

A few things that were a little annoying was the altenate melodies you used. There was a VERY good amount of alternate melodies, but almost all of the alternate melodies were a little, erm... undanceable (for lack of better word. Is it even a word? :S). What I mean is, they were too calm. It's nice to have a few calm parts in dance songs, but you had calm parts going on for almost a minute and a half (from 1:10 to 2:32) when I thought that you'd stop the calm part after or around the piano solo at least, and then continued with action-packed awesomeness instead of continuing the calm part for another 40 seconds. What I'm trying to say is, I want a little less of 1:16, and a little more of 2:47, if you get what I mean ;). On the bright side, the piano solo was beautifully done, and the melodies complimented each other really well.

When it comes to the synths/instruments that you used, maybe there were a few generic ones such as the heavy saw at the beginning, but overall the synths sounded excellent. I liked the synth at 1:10, it had some good pitch bending in it, and the synth at 1:17 was great. Piano sounded awesome, too, even though it wasn't the best quality, but there's a difference between a Dance Piano and a Realistic Piano ^^, and also the variety of synths was amazing, since it complimented the variety of everything else. That's what I like about your songs, your brilliant variety. Good job ^^.

The effects you used, as usual, were very well executed, and there isn't much I can say about them except praise. I really liked your use of the filters throughout the song, the sound effect at the beginning was cool and the pitch-bent square wave at around 2:05 was great. Good job with the effects, they sounded awesome, and made fantastic transitions.

The transitions are great, as they always are in your songs. The song flowed very smoothly, and there were some really epic transitions. I really liked the transitions with the filter such as the ones at 0:37 and 0:54, and 2:29 was definitely my favourite transition. Nice drum transitions as well, and the reverse cymbal you used made superb transitions as well. New instruments were introduced very well, and I really liked the buildups you did around the song, such as the one at the beginning, and the one when the square wave starts getting pitch-bent upwards. No problem with the transitions, none felt abrupt and all were epic ^^.

When it comes to the structure, it's the usual dance structure. Intro - Chorus - A Big Bunch of Melodies - Chorus - Outro. Still, it worked well in this song, but as I said above, what was weird was that there were more calm parts than dance parts, and that's a weird structure for a Dance song, so that's mainly what the song needs working on. On the other hand, the variety was excellent and the song never got boring with the amazing amount of melodies/synths.

Review continued on my alt Darkshadow166...

[Mellow Man]

So... Catchy...

OK, before I start, I'm just going to say that I'm reviewing this as a Review Request Club member, not a DM Judge. Alright, back to the review...
I really liked this song. It has such a cool vibe to it, and it's so fun to listen to, that I wouldn't ever want to press the stop button in any second of the song. Good job, man, this is a really cool submission.

The melodies are definitely the best part of this. I absolutely LOVED all of the melodies, and although I think you could've varied in the chord progressions a little more, the main melody is just so catchy. If that melody wasn't as catchy, I would've probably given you an 8 :P. I also liked the what the pitch bent instrument was playing at 1:33, that was pretty cool. 1:44 was a nice addition too, since it provided a break from the extremely action-packed awesomeness that the main melody has. Maybe you could add a few more alternate melodies, though. There were only around 2 melodies, and TBH I expected the part at 2:17 to be another alternate melody, or at least a different alternate melody at 2:38 instead of repeating 0:49 all over again. Also, I'd suggest a more powerful bass in the background to accompany the synths playing in the foreground.

The instruments are almost all amazing. I loved the main instrument that came in at 0:27 for the first time. It's one of the few things I like about drum'n'bass. The main synth in a DnB song is usually supposed to sound ear-splitting and very annoying, yet it doesn't annoy you at all throughout the song and makes you want to hear more, and that's how your main synth was. I really liked the square wave that first came in at 0:16, it was a really nice touch to the song, and furthermore added to the powerful and fast-paced rhythm of the song. You also used it very creatively around the song, and it never got boring to listen to. The only instrument I don't really like would be the instrument at the beginning which is simply a generic plucked saw synth. If you were so creative and varied with your other synths, I don't see why you shouldn't do the same to the instrument at the beginning. There were a few sound effects in this song which I enjoyed though, so good job there.

Wow, I'm running out of characters O.o... Anyway, the transitions were all very well done and I don't think there were any rough transitions. New instruments were introduced well, and the buildup at the beginning was very well executed. No problem there ^^. When it comes to the song structure, It was a little simple but did the job perfectly in this. The variety needs more work though. As I said, this needs a few more alternate melodies and the calm part in the middle dragged on a bit too much too much, so maybe if you added a few more variations (such as more sound effects, different transition melodies, etc.) in the calm part, it wouldn't sound so repetitive.

Intro wasn't that good. I don't think you should start with that synth. Still, the buildup was amazing and that made up for it. As for the ending, here's a my idea of a somewhat good outro for this song:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zg4g5izwnlj
Where the ending would use the part at around 1:33-1:35 and would have a final reverbed note. You should do that, since drum endings rarely come out too good, and this one was pretty abrupt.

As for the drums, the beats were good, they fit with the song and the samples were awesome, but unfortunately that's all that's good about them. They were really loud, and although DnB does need loud drums, I think they were a bit TOO loud. Also, the main beat needs variety, it started getting boring after some time. Drum transitions were good though ^^.

I enjoyed the song quite a lot, because of the fun, fast-paced rhythm, excellent synths, amazing melodies, good effects, awesome transitions and great variety of synths, and mostly this needs variety in the melodies/drums, quieter drums and better intro/outro. Keep up the extremely good work, and I hope to see more awesome songs like this from you. Great job! XD
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

Skela responds:

big friggin review! thanks

[AF - Memories]

Wow, for an Ambient song, this is great!

You're seriously really good at making Ambient. This is really calm and easy to listen to, and it instantly puts you at ease, and those are the main factors that every Ambient song should have. I really can't find many defects in this, great job!

The melodies are really nice, especially the pad's melodies that come in the middle of the song. They're just so relaxing, and even when you press the 'Mute' button, you can still hear those amazing melodies boom around your head. Maybe along with that instrument at the beginning there could be another instrument like some delayed plucked instrument which plays a melody to accompany it, but it's not too much of a problem. What I'd wish for in this song would be more alternate melodies for sure. The pad in the middle played a beautiful melody, but sadly it started to get annoying after the fourth repetition. You should vary the notes you play a little so that they don't get so predictable to listen to throughout the song. Even though you said you'd be adding vocals to the song, it isn't really an excuse to not vary the pad's melodies at all XD. On the other hand, the high bells' melodies were a nice addition to the song: I wish I saw more bells' melodies around the song though. Sorry for the long paragraph.....

When it comes to the instruments, they're really impressive. I liked the pad at around 1:08 most, but all of the instruments sounded nice. I strongly suggest adding some piano with a delay on it, to give it that mystical and majestic feel. Also, one thing that I really think you should add to the song is more sound effects. I heard some thunder sound effects, which were a nice touch, but other than those, there were no sound effects. Some space-y sound effects, maybe some windchimes or more weather sound effects. Some things that could remind you of distant memories such as kids laughing and playing a game or something like that. Use your imagination, and spice up the ambient song to make it both relaxing and fun to listen to ;).

I can't complain about the transitions, they were all great. I liked the transition a 1:08, it actually managed to switch to that slow pad really well. TBH I'd never manage to do something like that without messing the whole transition up xP. Maybe the addition of sound effects and stuff like delayed reverse cymbals and the like could make some transitions sound better, but that's just a small suggestion. New instruments were introduced well, too, and I liked that small buildup of the main instrument at the beginning.

The song's structure is pretty weird. First, you play that instrument at the beginning, then move on to a pad, and then both the pad and the instrument at the beginning. It actually works pretty well in this song. As for the variety, as I said above, this needs more alternate melodies. If you ever add those vocals, it would add more variety, but I'd suggest adding some more counter-melodies to this song so you could vary practically everything ;). The intro was really good, with a nice buildup, and the outro was perfect. I don't usually like fade-out endings, since they leave the listener wondering why it ended like that, but this fade-out ending fit really well with the song, and sort of symbolized how memories fade away. I liked that you added that thunder sound effect at the end too.

I'd comment about your drums, but you didn't have any :P. Well, that is, except for the part at around 0:40, and even then they were pretty quiet. I know you were going for a mystical feel, but drums can be made mystical too. Reverbed kicks, heavily reverbed shakers, delayed reverse cymbals, dance claps, and maybe add a whole new style by using congas, bongoes and the like. I think the addition of some percussion would really do wonders to this track ;).

Overall, I really enjoyed this (heh, now you know what it feels like getting long reviews xP). I'd give it a 9, but you get a 10 because you managed to make me download the genre I dislike the most, and it's Christmas time after all XD.
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

aliaspharow responds:

wow! thanks steph for the awesome review! alot of the things you wrote actually would help. actually, i think im gonna try editing the song with the advice you gave me. i can already hear it! freaking sweet!

[xKore - Moments]

Wow...

I've never been a fan of Progressive Trance, but this was done so well that I enjoyed listening to it up till the last second. Great job, it sounds really great! I think I heard your last one already, and from what I remember, it was nowhere close as good as this, so this is a real improvement to the old one.

The melodies are really nice, especially the ones on that high bell. They stay bouncing around in my head even when I press the mute button. The saw synth's tunes that came in at around 2:00 were really cool too. I can't really find many things wrong with the melodies. Perhaps this needs another one or two alternate melodies, but that isn't too much of a problem. I'll have to agree with Blackhole12 though: the sidechaining is a bit much, especially at 2:00, and although it's used quite a lot in songs like this, it'd be nice to hear the melodies at their full potential ;). By the way, I really liked the solo at 3:30, it was a good way to start the song's ending. I just hoped that the solo at 3:30 would've been a different melody other than the one that you used throughout the song. Even if it sounds so nice, I think some more melody variety would do wonders to a song that's already as good as this. Sorry for the long and unorganised paragraph :(.

The instruments are all amazing. Saw synth sounded excellent and the bell synth was really cool, but what I really liked was the pad. It sounds so soothing and yet it fits so much in this song. I don't think there's anything wrong with your instruments. You could add a piano somewhere, since I think it would be fitting in a song like this, but I won't reduce any points because you didn't add a piano: it's just a suggestion ;). The sound effects you used in this song are amazing as well, and left me enjoying the song till the end. Loved the sound effect at around 1:28, and the one at 2:58 or so as well. This song was practically covered with effects, and they were all executed flawlessly. Also, are those vocal samples or something at around 0:59? Whatever they are, they sounded really good in the song. Guh, sorry for another long paragraph, I should work on shortening them...

The transitions are perfect, andI especially enjoyed the transitions with the effects in them, such as 1:28 and 2:58. I don't think there are any rough transitions, and new instruments were introduced well too, for example the saw synth at 2:00; you faded it in instead of introduced it suddenly, which was great. Buildups were done very well, but I guess that's Progressive Trance for me then :\.

The structure is perfect for the genre you were going for, and variety is great too. I usually don't like Progressive Trance songs because they always start with a beat, build that beat up, and use it throughout the whole song, but you varied your beats very well, so either I got a bad impression of Progressive Trance or your song is an exception from all of the repetitive songs with that genre that I've heard. When remembering how important the drums are in this song, it's important to give them variety, and you did a great job on that.

The intro was awesome, and had a fantastic drum buildup to it, but when it comes to the ending, it's not perfect. I think that the song needs a final note to it other than a drum hit. After you did that solo, I expected the bells to end the song, so maybe if you played a final note with the bells, it'd be better.

I shouldn't say much about the drums since I'm running out of characters, but I'll just say that I really liked your samples. Reverse kicks were awesome, and the variety of samples you used was amazing. The only thing I'd suggest is making them a slight bit softer, since they're starting to take over the melodies a slight bit too much, and sound a little harsh.

The only defects I found in this song were nitpicks, practically. This is a really good song, and better than the Progressive Trance I've heard. Keep it up, and shame about your opponent dropping out in the Death Match, eh? Well, maybe next year I suppose ^^.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-